Just to Clarify

Last week we concluded our organic talk by diving deeper into sustainability using fish as our example. At that time I promised you we were done with organic but I lied – sorry! I need to clarify one more thing - my Dole comment. Over this past week some readers have voiced their confusion over my comment since I did not explain myself very well, so here is my explanation:

First of all, I don’t dislike Dole; I just don’t appreciate their marketing strategy. But hey I guess that’s marketing right? Despite what I am about to say don’t forget that bananas are really good for you and you should still eat them (or at least I still do). However, just don’t be mislead by their sneaky marketing strategy. Also, I don’t mean to pick on Dole, it’s just that I’ve only specifically explored their company but I’m pretty positive all banana companies do the same thing.

Ok, if you were to look at one of Dole’s organic bananas you will find a little sticker telling you the exact farm where that banana came from in Ecuador. So, you process this information as – “wow, I’m supporting a local farmer in Ecuador.” Unfortunately, if you do a little bit more research you will discover that there is no individual farmer; the farmer who runs that banana field is actually a Dole employee. So, you’re actually not supporting a small, local farmer but are in fact supporting Dole. And that’s ok – just don’t be mislead in what they are trying to sell you.

I hope that clarifies my previous post and please continue to eat bananas since the health benefits associated with them definitely out weight misleading marketing!